The NETWATCH online platform collects and presents information to support the analysis of transnational research programme cooperation. Its content centres on the participants and activities of ERA-NETs and ERA-NET Plus. Building on these data, this report sets out an assessment of the impact of the FP7 ERA-NET scheme on stakeholder organisations and on the research systems in which they operate.
In July 2012, the European Commission's ERA Communication gave renewed impetus to the realisation of ERA, targeting its completion in 2014. Transnational coordination of research at the programming level was identified as playing a prominent role in this, with ERA-NETs being a key instrument.
These developments highlight the need to understand better the impact of the ERA-NET scheme. NETWATCH has accumulated substantial information on transnational research programme collaboration, which provides a solid basis for this impact assessment, together with complementary data from various secondary sources and additional data collection by JRC-IPTS. The issues addressed by the current report are threefold:
-The direct impact of the ERA-NET scheme on the collaborative dimensions of national research programming practices, reflecting the extent to which the scheme is meeting its core objectives ;
-The impact of the scheme on the behaviour of participating organisations and;
-The overall impact on the national and European research landscape, particularly the nature and level of transnational collaborative behaviour.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt
